Culebra, Spanish Virgin Islands
December 2006
We are now in the Spanish Virgin Islands! The Spanish Virgin Islands of Vieques and Culebra lie less than 20 miles to the east of Puerto Rico and are a short jump even for a slow moving sailboat. In route we spent a day and a night on the west coast of Vieques (where until two years ago the U.S. Navy used to play with bombs) and then we sailed on to Culebra. We are now snugged into Ensenada Honda on the south coast of Culebra by the small town of Dewey and will stay put for a bit as the winds are forecasted to pick back up and blow stink (sailor talk for strong winds). We’re in the good company of Receta, Magus, and Indigo, among about 25 other boats in the harbor.
We left Salinas on Sunday, December 17th in a light drizzle of rain and motored the short distance of 5 miles to anchor behind the small island of Boca de Infierno (“Mouth of Hell” – not a very welcoming name for what is really a nice little remote spot). Lucky Peek could barely make way with the reef that had grown on the prop and bottom from our time in Playa de Salinas. It was a slow trip to B. de I. but it felt great to be out of the landcuffs of Salinas and away from its commercial temptations. Rod freed the sealife from the boat once we arrived so we anticipated making better speed on our next leg to Punta Patilla. We stayed an additional day/night at B. de I. to enjoy its quiet seclusion by swimming, lying in the sun, reading, chatting about what life is going to be like when we return, and napping. We even mixed up a batch of pina coladas in our newly purchased boat inverter-friendly blender! How will we ever adapt to life on land again?
Hindsight is so clear, isn’t it? We left Boca de Infierno knowing that the seas were still around 8+ feet from the east but we knew that just another day later the seas would be down which would make the run from Punta Patilla to Vieques much more enjoyable. So, we headed out – rockin’ and a-rollin’, a-pitchin’ and a-almost hurlin’. I made the cardinal mistake of going below to respond to a call on the VHF and spent way to much time chatting with Magus, giving them a conditions report. I emerged with a slightly green pallor to receive a head-shaking scolding from Rod. Lesson learned – do not go below in these seas. Relief was in sight as the Punta Patilla anchorage came into view that afternoon, but we still had to navigate around a couple of reefs before we could relax and call it a day. No problems there but once we got the hook down the boat still had an uncomfortable roll due to the swell that was making its way around the island. We didn’t get much rest that night but it made getting an early start the next morning pretty easy – if the boat is going to be moving around then we may as well be under way.
We had a beautiful sail on to Vieques and picked up one of the many free (!) moorings for the night at Green Beach on the west coast. The discomfort from the previous day was already melting away in the warm sun. So what did we learn? Well, had we waited just one more day at Boca de Infierno we would have had the pleasure of flat seas into Punta Patilla followed by a planned 3am departure to go straight to Culebra, but skipping the stop at Vieques. Magus and Indigo planned well by waiting.
Green Beach was a beautiful, quiet spot and we would have liked to have stayed at least another night but the winds were picking up to honking speed so we wanted to scoot on to the more protected waters of Ensenada Honda on the south coast of Culebra. So that is where we are now and we love it here! There are only about 2000 people that live on the island and from the sampling of locals that we’ve seen the population is made up of an eclectic mix of Puertorriquenos, retired U.S. Snow-birds, along with a sizable hippy contingent.
Christmas is right around the corner and we’ve been invited to a couple of Christmas day celebrations by the welcoming people of Culebra. One of which is at Flamenco Beach on the north side of the island – it’s reputed to be one of the most beautiful beaches in the Caribbean. So it looks like we’ll be having a white Christmas after all. White sand, that is.
Merry Christmas to all!
